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People v. Calhoun11/2/2004
*1041 Under Penal Code section 31, a person is guilty of a crime if he or she promotes, aids, or encourages its commission, knowing the perpetrator's unlawful purpose and intending to facilitate that purpose. (People v. Beeman (1984) 35 Cal.3d 547, 554-555, 199 Cal.Rptr. 60, 674 P.2d 1318.) Beeman quoted a lower court's opinion favorably: " 'An aider and abettor's fundamental purpose, motive and intent is to aid and assist the perpetrator in the latter's commission of the crime.' [Citation.]" (Beeman, supra, at p. 556, 199 Cal.Rptr. 60, 674 P.2d 1318, quoting People v. Vasquez (1972) 29 Cal.App.3d 81, 87, 105 Cal.Rptr. 181, italics added.) Both common and legal usage distinguish a perpetrator's direct commission of an offense from an aider and abettor's promotion, aid or encouragement of the perpetrator's commission of that offense.
The legislative history of section 20001, subdivision (c) does not suggest a legislative intent that its provisions apply to aiders and abettors of the underlying offense. We granted the People's unopposed request for judicial notice of documents constituting the legislative history of section 20001, subdivision (c). (Evid.Code, §§ 452, subd. (c), 459, subd. (a).) However, the People do not cite anything in that statute's legislative history suggesting legislators intended the enhancement to apply to aiders and abettors or that they were even aware of the possibility the statutory language could be construed as applying to aiders and abettors. Rather, as Calhoun notes, the legislative history submitted by the People shows legislators were concerned about direct perpetrators of certain offenses who flee the scene of the crime, making it more difficult to prosecute them for the underlying or other offenses. Section 20001, subdivision (c) was enacted "in memory of Courtney Cheney of Roseville, who was killed by a drunken driver with a long history of driving under the influence." (Stats.1996, ch. 645, § 1.) In a report of the Senate Committee on Criminal Procedure on Assembly Bill No.1985, the "[e]xpressed [p]urpose" of the bill (which would enact section 20001, subdivision (c)) according to its author was described:
"On April 9, 1995, Courtney Cheney of Roseville was struck from behind and killed by a drunk driver. The killer had numerous other drunk driving convictions.... At the request of the parents of Courtney Cheney, and at the suggestion of the judge in the Courtney Cheney case, the bill makes violation of [Penal Code section] 191.5 unambiguously a strike, and it creates a five year enhancement for fleeing the scene of the crime. The judge **544 in the case felt that the person who flees the scene should receive an additional five years because the effect of fleeing is to destroy evidence (by reducing the driver's BAC at time of testing) which, had the evidence been available, might have led to conviction for a more serious crime than violation of [Penal Code section] 191.5." (Sen. Com. on Crim. Proc., analysis of Assem. Bill No.1985 (1995-1996 Reg. Sess.) as amended July 1, 1996, pp. 3-4.)
*1042 That report described the bill's proposed five-year enhancement:
"Existing law provides for a penalty of up to 4 years in prison for fleeing the scene of an accident where death or permanent, serious injury occurs. This bill provides an additional enhancement of 5 years, to be added to the existing penalty if the person flees the scene after committing gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated; vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence; vehicular manslaughter DUI; vehicular manslaughter involving a vessel with gross negligence; or vehicular manslaughter involving a vessel DUI.
"The sponsor and the author believe this additional penalty is necessary because when a person who is DUI fl
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